Chapter 3

The Cellular Concept - System Design

Fundamentals
I. Introduction

 Goals of a Cellular System

 High capacity
 Large coverage area
 Efficient use of limited spectrum
 Large coverage area ­ Bell system in New York City
had early mobile radio
 Single Tx, high power, and tall tower
 Low cost
 Large coverage area ­ Bell system in New York City had 12
simultaneous channels for 1000 square miles
 Small # users
 Poor spectrum utilization
 What are possible ways we could increase the number
of channels available in a cellular system?
2
 Cellular concept
 Frequency reuse pattern

3
 Cells labeled with the same letter use the same
group of channels.
 Cell Cluster: group of N cells using complete set of
available channels
 Many base stations, lower power, and shorter
towers
 Small coverage areas called “cells”
 Each cell allocated a % of the total number of
available channels
 Nearby (adjacent) cells assigned different channel
groups
 to prevent interference between neighboring base
stations and mobile users
4
 Same frequency channels may be reused by cells a
“reasonable” distance away
 reused many times as long as interference between same
channel (co­channel) cells is < acceptable level
 As frequency reuse↑ → # possible simultaneous
users↑→ # subscribers ↑→ but system cost ↑ (more
towers)
 To increase number of users without increasing radio
frequency allocation, reduce cell sizes (more base
stations) ↑→ # possible simultaneous users ↑
 The cellular concept allows all mobiles to be
manufactured to use the same set of freqencies
 *** A fixed # of channels serves a large # of users
by reusing channels in a coverage area ***
5
GSM Cellular Architecture

6
 Architecture of the GSM system
 Several providers setup mobile networks following
the GSM standard within each country
 Components o MS (mobile station)
 BS (base station)
 MSC (mobile switching center)
 LR (location register)
 Subsystems o
 RSS (radio subsystem): covers all radio aspects
 Base station subsystem
 NSS (network and switching subsystem): call
forwarding, handover, switching
 OSS (operation subsystem): management of the network
7
II. Frequency Reuse/Planning

 Design process of selecting & allocating

channel groups of cellular base stations
 Two competing/conflicting objectives:
1) maximize frequency reuse in specified area
2) minimize interference between cells

8
 Cells
 base station antennas designed to cover specific cell
area
 hexagonal cell shape assumed for planning
 simple model for easy analysis → circles leave gaps
 actual cell “footprint” is amorphous (no specific shape)
 where Tx successfully serves mobile unit
 base station location
 cell center → omni­directional antenna (360° coverage)
 not necessarily in the exact center (can be up to R/4
from the ideal location)

9
 Choices of Hexagonal Cell Geometry
 Factors
 • Equal area
 • No overlap between cells
 Choices

 For a given R, A3 provides maximum coverage area.

 By using hexagon geometry, the fewest number of cells
covers
 a given geographic region.

10
 cell corners → sectored or directional antennas
on 3 corners with 120° coverage.
 very commom
 Note that what is defined as a “corner” is
somewhat flexible → a sectored antenna covers
120° of a hexagonal cell.
 So one can define a cell as having three antennas
in the center or antennas at 3 corners.

11
III. System Capacity

 S : total # of duplex channels available for use

in a given area; determined by:
 amount of allocated spectrum
 channel BW → modulation format and/or standard
specs. (e.g. AMPS)
 k : number of channels for each cell (k < S)
 N : cluster size → # of cells forming cluster
 S=kN

12
 M : # of times a cluster is replicated over a
geographic coverage area
 System Capacity = Total # Duplex Channels = C
C=MS=MkN
(assuming exactly MN cells will cover the area)
 If cluster size (N) is reduced and the geographic area
for each cell is kept constant:
 The geographic area covered by each cluster is smaller, so
M must ↑ to cover the entire coverage area (more clusters
needed).
 S remains constant.
 So C ↑
 The smallest possible value of N is desirable to maximize
system capacity.
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 Cluster size N determines:
 distance between co­channel cells (D)
 level of co­channel interference
 A mobile or base station can only tolerate so much
interference from other cells using the same
frequency and maintain sufficient quality.
 large N → large D → low interference → but small
M and low C !
 Tradeoff in quality and cluster size.
 The larger the capacity for a given geographic area,
the poorer the quality.

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 Frequency reuse factor = 1 / N
 each frequency is reused every N cells
 each cell assigned k ≒ S / N
 N cells/cluster
 connect without gaps
 specific values are required for hexagonal geometry
 N = i2 + i j + j2 where i, j ≧ 1
 Typical N values → 3, 4, 7, 12; (i, j) = (1,1), (2,0),
(2,1), (2,2)

15
 To find the nearest co­channel neighbors of a particular cell
 (1) Move i cells along any chain of hexagons, then (2)
turn 60 degrees and move j cells.

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17
18
Frequency Reuse Notation

 N×S×K frequency reuse pattern

 N=Number of cells per cluster
 S= Number of sectors in a cell
 K = Number of frequency allocations per cell
 1X3X3

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Frequency Reuse Notation (Cont)

20
Fractional Frequency Reuse

 Users close to the BS use all frequency

subchannels
 Users at the cell boundary use only a fraction of
available subchannels

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IV. Channel Assignment Strategies
 Goal is to minimize interference & maximize use of
capacity
 lower interference allows smaller N to be used → greater
frequency reuse → larger C
 Two main strategies: Fixed or Dynamic
 Fixed
 each cell allocated a pre-determined set of voice channels
 calls within cell only served by unused cell channels
 all channels used → blocked call → no service
 several variations
 MSC allows cell to borrow a VC (that is to say, a FVC/RVC
pair) from an adjacent cell
 donor cell must have an available VC to give

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 Dynamic
 channels NOT allocated permanently
 call request → goes to serving base station → goes
to MSC
 MSC allocates channel “on the fly”
 allocation strategy considers:
 likelihood of future call blocking in the cell
 reuse distance (interference potential with other cells
that are using the same frequency)
 channel frequency
 All frequencies in a market are available to be used

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 Advantage: reduces call blocking (that is to say,
it increases the trunking capacity), and
increases voice quality
 Disadvantage: increases storage &
computational load @ MSC
 requires real-time data from entire network related
to:
 channel occupancy
 traffic distribution
 Radio Signal Strength Indications (RSSI's) from all
channels

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V. Handoff Strategies

 Handoff: when a mobile unit moves from one

cell to another while a call is in progress, the
MSC must transfer (handoff) the call to a new
channel belonging to a new base station
 new voice and control channel frequencies
 very important task → often given higher priority
than new call
 It is worse to drop an in­progress call than to deny a
new one

25
 Minimum useable signal level
 lowest acceptable voice quality
 call is dropped if below this level
 specified by system designers
 typical values → ­90 to ­100 dBm

26
 Quick review: Decibels

S = Signal power in Watts

Power of a signal in decibels (dBW) is Psignal = 10 log10(S)
Remember dB is used for ratios (like S/N)
dBW is used for Watts

dBm = dB for power in milliwatts = 10 log10(S x 103)

dBm = 10 log10(S) + 10 log10(103) = dBW + 30
­90 dBm = 10 log10(S x 103)
10­9 = S x 103
S = 10­12 Watts = 10­9 milliwatts
­90 dBm = ­120 dBW

Signal­to­noise ratio:
N = Noise power in Watts
S/N = 10 log10(S/N) dB (unitless raio)
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 choose a (handoff threshold) > (minimum
useable signal level)
 so there is time to switch channels before level
becomes too low
 as mobile moves away from base station and
toward another base station

28
29
 Handoff Margin △
 △ = Phandoff threshold - Pminimum usable signal dB
 carefully selected
 △ too large → unnecessary handoff → MSC loaded down
 △ too small → not enough time to transfer → call dropped!
 A dropped handoff can be caused by two factors
 not enough time to perform handoff
 delay by MSC in assigning handoff
 high traffic conditions and high computational load on MSC
can cause excessive delay by the MSC
 no channels available in new cell

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 Handoff Decision
 signal level decreases due to
 signal fading → don’t handoff
 mobile moving away from base station → handoff
 must monitor received signal strength over a period
of time → moving average
 time allowed to complete handoff depends on
mobile speed
 large negative received signal strength (RSS) slope →
high speed → quick handoff
 statistics of the fading signal are important to
making appropriate handoff decisions → Chapters
4 and 5
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 1st Generation Cellular (Analog FM → AMPS)
 Received signal strength (RSS) of RVC measured
at base station & monitored by MSC
 A spare Rx in base station (locator Rx) monitors
RSS of RVC's in neighboring cells
 Tells Mobile Switching Center about these mobiles and
their channels
 Locator Rx can see if signal to this base station is
significantly better than to the host base station
 MSC monitors RSS from all base stations &
decides on handoff

32
 2nd Generation Cellular w/ digital TDMA (GSM,
IS­136)
 Mobile Assisted HandOffs (MAHO)
 important advancement
 The mobile measures the RSS of the FCC’s from
adjacent base stations & reports back to serving base
station
 if Rx power from new base station > Rx power from
serving (current) base station by pre­determined
margin for a long enough time period → handoff
initiated by MSC

33
 MSC no longer monitors RSS of all channels
 reduces computational load considerably
 enables much more rapid and efficient handoffs
 imperceptible to user

34
 A mobile may move into a different system
controlled by a different MSC
 Called an intersystem handoff
 What issues would be involved here?

 Prioritizing Handoffs
 Issue: Perceived Grade of Service (GOS) – service
quality as viewed by users
 “quality” in terms of dropped or blocked calls (not
voice quality)
 assign higher priority to handoff vs. new call request
 a dropped call is more annoying than an occasional
blocked call
35
 Guard Channels
 % of total available cell channels exclusively set
aside for handoff requests
 makes fewer channels available for new call
requests
 a good strategy is dynamic channel allocation (not
fixed)
 adjust number of guard channels as needed by demand
 so channels are not wasted in cells with low traffic

36
 Queuing Handoff Requests
 use time delay between handoff threshold and
minimum useable signal level to place a blocked
handoff request in queue
 a handoff request can "keep trying" during that time
period, instead of having a single block/no block
decision
 prioritize requests (based on mobile speed) and
handoff as needed
 calls will still be dropped if time period expires

37
VI. Practical Handoff Considerations

 Problems occur because of a large range of

mobile velocities
 pedestrian vs. vehicle user
 Small cell sizes and/or micro­cells → larger #
handoffs
 MSC load is heavy when high speed users are
passed between very small cells

38
 Umbrella Cells
 Fig. 3.4, pg. 67
 use different antenna heights and Tx power levels to
provide large and small cell coverage
 multiple antennas & Tx can be co­located at single
location if necessary (saves on obtaining new tower
licenses)
 large cell → high speed traffic → fewer handoffs
 small cell → low speed traffic
 example areas: interstate highway passing thru
urban center, office park, or nearby shopping mall

39
40
 Cell Dragging
 low speed user w/ line of sight to base station (very strong
signal)
 strong signal changing slowly
 user moves into the area of an adjacent cell without handoff
 causes interference with adjacent cells and other cells
 Remember: handoffs help all users, not just the one which is
handed off.
 If this mobile is closer to a reused channel → interference ­
for the other user using the same frequency
 So this mobile needs to hand off anyway, so other users
benefit because that mobile stays far away from them.

41
 Typical handoff parameters
 Analog cellular (1st generation)
 threshold margin △ ≈ 6 to 12 dB
 total time to complete handoff ≈ 8 to 10 sec
 Digital cellular (2nd generation)
 total time to complete handoff ≈ 1 to 2 sec
 lower necessary threshold margin △ ≈ 0 to 6 dB
 enabled by mobile assisted handoff

42
 benefits of small handoff time
 greater flexibility in handling high/low speed
users
 queuing handoffs & prioritizing
 more time to “rescue” calls needing urgent
handoff
 fewer dropped calls → GOS increased
 can make decisions based on a wide range of
metrics other than signal strength
 such as also measure interference levels
 can have a multidimensional algorithm for
making decisions
43
 Soft vs. Hard Handoffs
 Hard handoff: different radio channels assigned
when moving from cell to cell
 all analog (AMPS) & digital TDMA systems (IS­136,
GSM, etc.)
 Many spread spectrum users share the same
frequency in every cell
 CDMA → IS­95
 Since a mobile uses the same frequency in every cell, it
can also be assigned the same code for multiple cells
when it is near the boundary of multiple cells.
 The MSC simultaneously monitors reverse link signal
at several base stations

44
 MSC dynamically decides which signal is best
and then listens to that one
 Soft Handoff
 passes data from that base station on to the PSTN
 This choice of best signal can keep changing.
 Mobile user does nothing for handoffs except
just transmit, MSC does all the work
 Advantage unique to CDMA systems
 As long as there are enough codes available.

45
VII. Co-Channel Interference

 Interference is the limiting factor in

performance of all cellular radio systems
 What are the sources of interference for a
mobile receiver?
 Interference is in both
 voice channels
 control channels
 Two major types of system­generated
interference:
1) Co­Channel Interference (CCI)
2) Adjacent Channel Interference (ACI)

46
 First we look at CCI
 Frequency Reuse
 Many cells in a given coverage area use the same
set of channel frequencies to increase system
capacity (C)
 Co­channel cells → cells that share the same set of
frequencies
 VC & CC traffic in co­channel cells is an
interfering source to mobiles in Several different
cells

47
 Possible Solutions?
1) Increase base station Tx power to improve radio
signal reception? __
 this will also increase interference from co­channel
cells by the same amount
 no net improvement
2) Separate co­channel cells by some minimum
distance to provide sufficient isolation from
propagation of radio signals?
 if all cell sizes, transmit powers, and coverage patterns
≈ same → co­channel interference is independent of
Tx power

48
 co­channel interference depends on:
 R : cell radius
 D : distance to base station of nearest co­channel cell
 if D / R ↑ then spatial separation relative to cell
coverage area ↑
 improved isolation from co­channel RF energy
 Q = D / R : co­channel reuse ratio
 hexagonal cells → Q = D/R = 3N

49
 Fundamental tradeoff in cellular system design:
 small Q → small cluster size → more frequency
reuse → larger system capacity great
 But also: small Q → small cell separation →
increased co­channel interference (CCI) → reduced
voice quality → not so great
 Tradeoff: Capacity vs. Voice Quality

50
 Signal to Interference ratio → S / I, ____________

 S : desired signal power

 Ii : interference power from ith co­channel cell
 io : # of co­channel interfering cells

51
 Approximation with some assumptions

 Di : distance from ith interferer to mobile

 Rx power @ mobile  ( Di )  n

52
 n : path loss exponent
 free space or line of sight (LOS) (no obstruction) →
n=2
 urban cellular → n = 2 to 4, signal decays faster
with distance away from the base station
 having the same n throughout the coverage area
means radio propagation properties are roughly the
same everywhere
 if base stations have equal Tx power and n is the
same throughout coverage area (not always true)
then the above equation (Eq. 3.8) can be used.

53
 Now if we consider only the first layer (or tier)
of co­channel cells
 assume only these provide significant interference
 And assume interfering base stations are
equidistant from the desired base station (all at
distance ≈ D) then

54
 What determines acceptable S / I ?
 voice quality → subjective testing
 AMPS → S / I ≧18 dB (assumes path loss exponent
n = 4)
 Solving (3.9) for N

 Most reasonable assumption is io : # of co­channel

interfering cells = 6
 N = 7 (very common choice for AMPS)
55
 Many assumptions involved in (3.9) :
 same Tx power
 hexagonal geometry
 n same throughout area
 Di ≈ D (all interfering cells are equidistant from the
base station receiver)
 optimistic result in many cases
 propagation tools are used to calculate S / I when
assumptions aren’t valid

56
 S / I is usually the worst case when a mobile is at the
cell edge
 low signal power from its own base station & high
interference power from other cells
 more accurate approximations are necessary in those cases

S R 4

I 2( D  R ) 4  2( D  R ) 4  2 D 4

57
N =7 and S / I ≈ 17 dB

58
 Eq. (3.5), (3.8), and (3.9) are (S / I) for forward link
only, i.e. the cochannel base Tx interfering with
desired base station transmission to mobile unit
 so this considers interference @ the mobile unit
 What about reverse link co­channel interference?
 less important because signals from mobile antennas (near
the ground) don’t propagate as well as those from tall base
station antennas
 obstructions near ground level significantly attenuate mobile
energy in direction of base station Rx
 also weaker because mobile Tx power is variable → base
stations regulate transmit power of mobiles to be no larger
than necessary

59
I. Adjacent Channel Interference

 Two major types of system­generated

interference:
1) Co­Channel Interference (CCI) – discussed in last
lecture
2) Adjacent Channel Interference (ACI)
 Adjacent Channel Interference (ACI)
 Imperfect Rx filters allow energy from adjacent
channels to leak into the passband of other
channels

60
 desired filter response

 actual filter response

61
 This affects both forward & reverse links
 Forward Link → base­to­mobile
 interference @ mobile Rx from a ______ Tx
(another mobile or another base station that is not
the one the mobile is listening to) when mobile Rx
is ___ away from base station.
 signal from base station is weak and others are
somewhat strong.
 Reverse Link → mobile­to­base
 interference @ base station Rx from nearby mobile
Tx when desired mobile Tx is far away from base
station
62
 Near/Far Effect
 interfering source is near some Rx when desired
source is far away
 ACI is primarily from mobiles in the same cell
 some cell­to­cell ACI does occur as well → but a
secondary source
 Control of ACI
 don’t allocate channels within a given cell from a
contiguous band of frequencies
 for example, use channels 1, 4, 7, and 10 for a cell.
 no channels next to each other

63
 maximize channel separation
 separation of as many as N channel bandwidths
 some schemes also seek to minimize ACI from
neighboring cells by not assigning adjacent
channels in neighboring cells

64
65
 Originally 666 channels, then 10 MHz of
spectrum was added
666+166 = 832 channels
 395 VC plus 21 CC per service provider
(providers A & B)
395*2 = 790, plus 42 control channels
 Provider A is a company that has not
traditionally provided telephone service
 Provider B is a traditional wireline operator
 21 VC groups with ≈ 19 channels/group
 at least 21 channel separation for each group
66
 for N = 7 → 3 VC groups/cell
 For example, choose groups 1A, 1B, and 1C for a
cell – so channels 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, 36, etc. are used.
 ∴ ≈ 57 channels/cell
 at least 7 channel separation for each cell group
 to have high quality on control channels, 21 cell
reuse is used for CC’s
 instead of reusing a CC every 7 cells, as for VC’s,
reuse every 21 cells (after every three clusters)
 greater distance between control channels, so less
CCI
67
 use high quality filters in base stations
 better filters are possible in base stations since they
are not constrained by physical size and power as
much as in the mobile Rx
 makes reverse link ACI less of a concern than
forward link ACI
 also true because of power control (discussed below)
 choice of modulation schemes
 different modulation schemes provide less or more
energy outside their passband.

68
 Power Control
 technique to minimize ACI
 base station & MSC constantly monitor mobile
received signal strength
 mobile Tx power varied (controlled) so that
smallest Tx power necessary for a quality reverse
link signal is used (lower power for the closer the
mobile is to the base station)
 also helps battery life on mobile

69
 dramatically improves adjacent channel S / I
ratio, since mobiles in other cells only transmit
at high enough power as transmitter controls
(not at full power)
 most beneficial for ACI on reverse link
 will see later that this is especially important for
CDMA systems

70
III. Trunking & Grade of Service (GOS)

 Trunked radio system: radio system where a

large # of users share a pool of channels
 channel allocated on demand & returned to channel
pool upon call termination
 exploit statistical (random) behavior of users so that
fixed # of channels can accommodate large # of
users
 Trade­off between the number of available channels
that are provided and the likelihood of a particular user
finding no channels available during the busy hour of
the day.

71
 trunking theory is used by telephone companies to
allocate limited # of voice circuits for large # of
telephone lines
 efficient use of equipment resources → savings
 disadvantage is that some probability exists that
mobile user will be denied access to a channel
 blocked call : access denied → “blocked call cleared”
 delayed call : access delayed by call being put into
holding queue for specified amount of time

72
 GOS : measure of the ability of user access to a
trunked system during the _______ hour
 specified as probability (Pr) that call is blocked or
delayed
 designed to handle the busiest hour → typically
______
 Erlang : unitless measure of traffic intensity
 e.g. 0.5 erlangs = 1 channel occupied 30 minutes
during 1 hour
 Table 3.3, pg. 78 → trunking theory definitions

73
 “Offered” Traffic Intensity (A)
 Offered? → not necessarily carried by system
(some is blocked or delayed)
 each user Au=λH Erlangs (also called ρ in queueing
theory)
 λ = traffic intensity (average arrival rate of new calls,
in new requests per time unit, say calls/min).
 H = average duration of a call (also called 1/ µ in
queueing theory)
 system with U users → A = UAu = UλH Erlangs
 capacity = maximum carried traffic = C Erlangs =
(equal to total # of available channels that are busy
all the time) 74
 Erlang B formula
 Calls are either admitted or blocked

 A = total offered traffic

 C = # channels in trunking pool (e.g. a cell)
 AMPS designed for GOS of 2%
 blocked call cleared (denied) → BCC

75
 capacities to support various GOS values

 Note that twice the capacity can support much more than
twice the load (twice the number of Erlangs).
76
 Erlang C formulas
 blocked call delayed → BCD → put into holding
queue
 GOS is probability that a call will still be blocked
even if it spends time in a queue and waits for up to
t seconds
 equations (3.17) to (3.19) in book

77
 Graphical form of Erlang B formulas

78
 Graphical form of Erlang C formulas

79
 Example: Find how many users can be
supported in a cell containing 50 channels for a
2% GOS (Blocked Calls Cleared) if the average
user calls twice/hr with an average call duration
of 5 minutes.
 What is the corresponding C from the figure?

 What is A (Traffic Intensity) from the figure?

 So, how many users can be supported?

80
 Trunking Efficiency
 measure of the # of users supported by a specific
configuration of fixed channels, efficiency in terms
of users per available channel = U / C
 Table 3.4, pg. 79 → assume 1% GOS
 Assume Au = 0.2
 1 group of 20 channels:

 2 groups of 10 channels, with equal number of users

per group:

81
 the allocation of channel groups can
substantially change the # of users supported by
trunked system
 The larger the trunking pool, the better the trunking
efficiency.
 as trunking pool size ↓ then trunking efficiency
↓
 What is the relationship between trunking pool size,
trunking efficiency, received signal quality, and
cluster size?
 As cluster size decreases…
82
 Note: Trunking efficiency is an issue both in
FDMA/TDMA systems and in CDMA systems
(where the capacity limit is the number of
possible codes and the interference levels).

83
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89
90
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93
IV. Improving Cellular System Capacity

 A cellular design eventually (hopefully!)

becomes insufficient to support the growing
number of users.
 Need to provide more channels per unit coverage
area
 Would like to have orderly growth
 Would like to upgrade the system instead of rebuild
 Would like to use existing towers as much as
possible

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 Cell Splitting
 subdivide congested cell into several smaller
cells
 increases number of times channels are reused
in an area
 must decrease antenna height & Tx power
 so smaller coverage per cell results
 and the co­channel interference level is held
constant

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 each smaller cell keeps ≈ same # of channels as
the larger cell, since each new smaller cell uses
the same number of frequencies
 this means that we keep that same cluster size
 capacity ↑ because channel reuse ↑ per unit area
 smaller cells → “micro­cells”

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 Illustration is for towers at the corners

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 advantages include:
 only needed for cells that reach max. capacity → not
all cells
 implement when Pr [blocked call] > acceptable GOS
 system capacity can gradually expand as demand ↑
 disadvantages include:
 # handoffs/unit area increases
 umbrella cell for high velocity traffic may be needed
 more base stations → $$ for real estate, towers, etc.

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 complicated design process
 new base stations use lower power and antenna
height
 What about existing base stations?
 If kept at the same power, they would overpower new
microcells.
 If reduced in power, they would not cover their own
cells.
 One solution: Use separate groups of channels.
 One group at the original power and another group at
the lower power.
 New microcells only use lower power channels.
 As load growth continues, more and more channels are
moved to lower power.
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 Sectoring
 cell splitting keeps D / R unchanged (same
cluster size and CCI) but increases frequency
reuse/area
 alternate way to ↑ capacity is to _____ CCI
(increase S / I ratio)

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 replace omni­directional antennas at base station
with several directional antennas
 3 sectors → 3 120° antennas
 6 sectors → 6 60° antennas

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 cell channels broken down into sectored groups
 CCI reduced because only some of neighboring co­
channel cells radiate energy in direction of main cell
 center cell labeled "5" has all co­channel cells
illustrated
 only 2 co­channel cells will interfere if all are using
120° sectoring
 only 1 co­channel cell would interfere when using
60° sectoring
 If the S/I was 17 dB for N = 7 and n = 4, what is the
S / I now with 120° sectoring?
 24.2 dB

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105
 How is capacity increased?
 sectoring only improves S/I which increases voice
quality, beyond what is really necessary
 by reducing CCI, the cell system designer can choose
smaller cluster size (N ↓) for acceptable voice quality
 smaller N → greater frequency reuse → larger system
capacity

 What would the system capacity, Cnew, now be when

using 120° sectoring, as compared to the old capacity,
Cold ?

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108
 much less costly than cell splitting
 only require more antennas @ base station vs.
multiple new base stations for cell splitting
 primary disadvantage is that the available
channels in a cell are subdivided into sectored
groups
 trunked channel pool ↓, therefore trunking
efficiency ↓
 There are more channels per cell, because of
smaller cluster sizes, but those channels are broken
into sectors.

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 other disadvantages:
 must design network coverage with sectoring
decided in advance
 can’t effectively use sectoring to increase capacity
after setting cluster size N
 can’t be used to gradually expand capacity as
traffic ↑ like cell splitting
 More Handoffs
 More antenna, more cost

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 Next topic: Mobile Radio Propagation ­ Large­
scale path loss, small­scale fading, and
multipath
 Free space propagation loss
 Reflections
 2­ray model
 Diffraction
 Fading
 Multipath

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